We reluctantly left the Mara, possibly our last experience wild camping in Africa. There is nothing like the experience of camping with no fences, hearing lion, elephant, hyenas and hippos ‘conversing’ through the night, and occasionally, wandering through camp.
Drove all day to a beautiful campsite on the edge of Lake Naivasha, where we spent our last few nights living out of our Land Rover. On our drive here, we experienced our first overt attempt, since being in Africa, by a police officer to extort money. We were pulled over at a checkpoint and told we had committed a traffic offence by overtaking a truck on a solid yellow line (not sure how the cop may have seen this since he was standing on the side of the road several kilometers from where we may have potentially committed the offence). The ploy by Kenyan police, which we had learnt from others, is to give you the option to show up at court 10 days from the offence (which no tourist will be able to do) or contribute to the cop’s lunch fund. This is exactly what happened.
In his benevolent mood, the policeman decided to forgive us the offence and said we could contribute $50 for his lunch to show our appreciation. Of course, we said this did not seem correct, and we would prefer to just pay the fine if we could get a receipt. After ~15 minutes of his trying to get us to understand that he only really wanted cash (including asking John to explain to Christy exactly what he wanted – ‘I think she understands perfectly what you want’) he finally told us to “just go”, which we did as quickly as possible, making sure to signal and put our seatbelts back on.
While camping on the edge of the lake, we were able to enjoy watching some wonderful colubus monkeys in our campsite. Also, since our food stockpile is essentially depleted, we’ve enjoyed eating all of our meals at the local restaurant. Our last stop before returning the Land Rover will be in Karen, a cushy suburb on the outskirts of Nairobi.Read more

I am being honest I haven't really heard of Joy Adamson or George Adamson before but me being me I can't resist learning about history especially when there is cake involved!

We arrived on the banks of Elsamere Conservation Centre by boat, we went into the museum first where we looked at a lot of Joy and George Adamson's belongings. There were type writers, sewing machines, paintings, certificates, oil paints, photographs and several other little belongings.

We then were treated to high tea, there were so many cakes and biscuits - it was delicious. We then watched a documentary about Joy Adamson's life and she is such an incredible woman. I didn't expect to enjoy this as much as I did but I really did and I look forward to researching more about her.Read more

Once we got back from our walking safari we straight away walked down to Lake Naivasha where there were boats waiting to pick us up and take us to see where the hippopotamus were resting.

We were able to see probably about fifteen to twenty hippopotamus' just off of the shore in a large group the boat went straight to this group so that we could have a close up view of them, it was amazing (photographs do not do it justice) we continued on the boat and found a further two families.

Once our time was up the ones that were going to the Elsamere Conservation Centre were dropped off on the bank of where the centre is located.Read more

8th : It took 3 buses to get here, but we're settled in at Fisherman's camp, rented a tent for the night. We're along the shores of Lake Naivasha: All I hear from my tent are the calming, natural sounds of birds, frogs and crickets. My pre-birthday meal was a splurge! Unplanned splurge since it's the only food available and the restaurant at our campsite is fancy and expensive. It's funny to think, just like at Kibale NP in Uganda, we're paying more for this tiny two person tent rental then any accommodation yet, and the restaurant is fancy and expensive. The atmosphere is where they get away with it. Feet away from our tent is an electrical fence that helps keep the hippo, currently eating grass, out of the water, from getting too close. Yep, on our camp grounds are 3 hippos, and of course the odd birds and monkeys.

9th : It's my birthday!! And for my birthday, I got to wake up with the sounds of birds. Grabbed our rented bikes and went for our usual bean breakfast in the town next door. And I use the word town loosely. It's about 100 feet long along the main road with mini shops. Only this breakfast had a slight twist! MILK!!! For some reason, when I travel, I never drink milk because I'm afraid it will make me sick, or I won't like it. I'm a milk snob. But considering I have a glass almost everyday at home, I've had huge cravings for cold milk. All the milk I kept seeing in stores was full fat, so 3.3%... I knew that wouldn't satisfy my craving so I never bought it... Jack found me low fat milk! In a juice carton! And it was cold! She got the campsite restaurant to put it in the fridge for her... She's so smart. It's my birthday!

Jack must have given the park a quick call before we got there, because the animals were out to say hi as soon as we passed the gate into Hell's Gate National Park. For my birthday, I was greeted by about 30 zebras, 5 girafes, a bunch of different gazelles that I wish I could name, countless hogs and a heard of African buffaloes. And this was all done in such a natural way, I felt like I was right next to them with this bicycle!

To Jack's parents - I cycled for 3 hours! That's pretty good for me... We were at the park gates by 830am (cycled there from our camp 5 km out) and I had returned to town by 1250pm... Minus an hour hike through a beautiful gorge. That's right, for my birthday, up close and personal with animals AND got to walk a beautiful, short hike.

I was getting a little tired, heat starting to increase, so I decided I was allowed to stop there! No need to push myself further, it would only frustrate me. I didn't want to end my cycling morning negatively being exhausted, so Jack and I chose to split. The energy bunny wanted to keep going. I went to an even smaller town then the morning breakfast to grab a good ol' cold coke. She continued down the main road to the next lake, about 12 km down. I returned my bike at the camp site and hoped on a minibus to meet her at the lake. I love motorized vehicles. Don't get me wrong, doing the park via bike was absolutely perfect. But getting through towns, I don't need to make any effort. I sit in a van, say where I want to go, and they bring me, they even tell me where to get off since I have no clue what Kongoni looks like. I was sitting in the front seat, so it was funny to wave to Jack from my comfy transport as we passed her cycling hard. We were originally worried not to find each other in the town, because every town we've been in in Kenya has big bigger then we expected. If you saw pictures, you'd know why that's hilarious. Kongoni was the last stop. The road literally stops there, it becomes dirt after and then nothing. There was a T intersection, so one could debate the possibility of getting lost there... But it was about 150 feet long, and the T road was about 50 feet long, again of tiny shop stalls. At worst, if we couldn't see each other, we could just ask around town for the other white girl. I doubt they've seen too many.

The goal was to see a lake filled with flamingos! With our Kenyan luck, you've guest it! No flamingos. But gorgeous views at the lake front anyways, and this tiny little town made the trip worth while. At least it was for me, I just had to sit there. Jack now has to cycle back, knowing the size of the mountains that await her! We almost got back at the same time! I beat her by 5 minutes. My bus didn't leave for a while because it's hard to fill a minibus in the world's tiniest town. And she's a beast! A cycling beast!

I got a warm shower for my birthday too! The gifts just keep on coming. They lit a fire under the water tank when they saw us approaching the showers. Now I'm refreshed, I've got my new t-shirt on, my hairs all did... I grabbed a tea to relax and guess what! This young lady got me Salt and Vinegar Chips !! Apparently she listens to my every craving, because I've been looking for them and obviously haven't found any... She's a genius!

Since anyone who knows me, knows I'm a big family kind of gal... A birthday would not be complete without reaching out to the fam jam. I got to speak to both my mom and dad! It's a weird thing to call your parents for them to wish you happy birthday, but it felt great! I went next door, to another camp site who had Wi-Fi, and said it was my birthday and I just wanted to send a quick email. The manager said I had to order a drink for the Wi-Fi password, but the waitress gave it to me right away. Score! I had a voice message from my dad when I logged on, and right away I looked at Jack and said "20 bucks says he sings me happy birthday". And sure enough, it's a recording of him singing to me! Every year, he never skips a beat. If for some reason he didn't reach me on my birthday, there was always a voice message of him singing to me! My mom was at work but of course acted like she had all the time in the world to chat with me. They're awesome. The only thing missing, the only thing that would complete my day, is chatting with Gen, the world's coolest twin, wishing her a happy birthday. Fortunately for her, she's a big girl now, with a big girl job, and her students probably wouldn't appreciate her answering her phone. So I didn't call, instead I left her my own personal rendition of the happy birthday song. I hope her day is as epic as mine, in her own way! I have comfort in knowing I spoke to her Sunday, when she was celebrating her birthday, and she seemed to be surrounded by those who love her. Comfort. Xox. Leaving the hotel with the Wi-Fi, the security guard asked if he could sing to me. To which of course I said yes! He actually sang me the whole happy birthday song, top to bottom... Jack and I danced around at the security gait. It was a beautiful moment. Lol.

The birthday shenanigans continued! We had diner, I got to chose whatever I wanted! I've gotten so used to us sharing things that I couldn't make up my mind on my own... We ordered two amazing dishes and shared both. I got to have two dishes! And because Jack had to store the milk in the restaurant fridge, they knew it was my birthday, so they paid a drink for me! Free beer! And believe it or not, I got a card! And candles! Jack had been carrying candles and this card since leaving home! This is a women who has difficulty making plans for the weekend because it's too much of a commitment... And here she is, carrying candles and a card for 2 months... This was without a doubt an amazing day. Topped off with a kitkat and dairy milk chocolate bars... I swear it's like this girl knows me or something... Like she actually pays attention to what I say... Actually cares about knowing what I like... She's absolutely amazing, and she made this birthday perfect.

Side note : according to east Africans, Jack and I look alike. The amount of times we've been asked if we're sisters (or just as often brother and sister) is ridiculous. I guess the classic joke of "all Asians look alike" is true for any ethnicity that isn't your own. I don't think I have to point out just how little Jack and I actually resemble each other... But here, people are shocked when we tell them we aren't related. We were even told a few times they thought we were twins... Lol! Twins. And people think my actual twin and I don't look alike, Jack? Oh boy.Read more

So i'm just now catching up on your blog, and thank you very much, i'm bawling my eyes out and JF is next to me wondering if I just found out you're dead or something. I look every day at my arm and think of you. I miss you so much sis. Can't wait for your return. Enjoy your last couple of weeks, and follow your arm home (just make sure to point it north-west!). Thanks so much Jack for making this day special for my person! Xoxo to the both of you. Jr.

It's our last night on the Gorilla Trekking Tour and I've been out of action for most of the day sick :-( I thought I was making improvements yesterday but the infection has hit me hard today and I've really struggled being away from home. I stopped at a pharmacy and picked up some antibiotics before reaching our campground for the night. I've been so lucky my roommate Jess from Australia has been amazing and checking on me frequently while being sick and set up our tent this morning without me! I had a plate of plain pasta for lunch with my medication then a nap. Surprisingly I woke up from the nap feeling 100 times better and was able to actual function like a normal human being. I'm still really lethargic but I'm try to eat as much plain food as I can while I have an appetite and I've managed to pack my bags ready for my flight tomorrow night. It's been an incredible six weeks in Africa, the time has flown by, and I wish my last few days hadn't been so miserable but I'm definitely ready to get out of here and meet Hollie on the other side!!Read more

We started a little later today because there was only a two hour drive to our next camp which is called 'Crayfish Camp'.

We arrived here at about 10:00am, set up our tents and then booked in our optional activities. I have chosen to do the walking safari, boat ride to see hippopotamus and the Elsamere Conservation Centre.

The facilities at this camp are fairly average, good wifi but toilets and showers let this camp down. They are too far away and not very clean.Read more